Why does my 7 year old dd have no friends?

She has had issues since Year 1. More tears tonight, no one to play with at dinner time....as usual.

I just can't understand it, she's kind, caring, lively and friendly, but no one wants to play with her. She doesn't seem to have any social issues, in fact she seems to have very high emotional intelligence for her age. She is now starting to lose her self esteem, and I just do not know what to do..

Firstly I think the fact that after school playdates aren't being reciprocated could be for a number of reasons. How does it go when they are at your house? Do they play nicely? Are you on friendly terms with the other mum? It doesn't mean you need to join any cliques, but being approachable is really important I think. There are a couple of mums at my children's school who seem to have an invisible bubble around them saying "don't approach me!" and even I (quite friendly and sociable) find it hard to start a conversation with them because they don't seem to want me to. I did approach one recently and she actually seemed really pleased. It was tricky as there was also a language barrier to deal with but I was surprised by how pleased she was, you would never have guessed.

It shouldn't matter when arranging playmates how friendly you are with the mum, but unfortunately it does. I think particularly when they are small and you would probably go with them and stay for coffee. The other mums aren't going to want to hang out at the house of someone they don't know at all, and so I think it is important to chat and be friendly. My daughter is the same age as yours and we have always had playdates with my friends and their children. It is only the last few months that we have invited one over whose stayed here on their own (without mum) that was a school friend and not a child of one of my friends, IYSWIM? I think as they get older it will be less of an issue.

It doesn't explain why your daughter hasn't been invited to theirs though. Do you have any gut feelings about that? I would invite them again, because when they have been to your house more than one it will be harder for the other parent not to return the invite. Still rude not to though! Perhaps they are just being lazy.

My daughter is quite upfront with other children and asks them to go to their houses. I have brought it up in conversation with the other mum before and said with a smile "oh xxxx keeps going on and on at me about coming to play with xxxx at your house next!" whilst laughing about how forward kids are. Pushy but works!

It could even be something silly such as you having a bigger/nicer house than the others and on seeing yours are too embarrassed to invite you to theirs.

From one persons perspective being friendly with other mums at the school is being in a clique, but to others it's just being friendly. It depends on your perspective.

My cousin has children at the same school as mine and has had similar problems to you and your daughter. Once my children started there I realised why. My cousin is very standoffish and doesn't approach other mums or dads. If they approach her she is chatty enough but they often don't because she has that invisible bubble I was talking about (complete with unintentional "I will punch you if you come near me" face which is only visible when not smiling). This has effected her daughter because her daughter has learnt her social skills and how to deal with situations like this from her mum primarily, and so the daughter doesn't know how to approach people either. For her the problem sorted itself gradually as new children started and she now has a couple of children she likes.

A friend of mine has the same problem with her youngest child and it's become apparent that the child doesn't want to play with others in her year because they are all imbeciles!

Another also has this problem and it appears that her child may have some mild SN. Possibly ASD/AS/PDA. She is being assessed. It means that she appears very advanced in her social skills but actually can't relate to other children. When she is talking to adults she is mimicking what she sees other adults do but can't do the same with children. This is probably not relevant but thought I'd mention it.

The other thing I thought of reading your post last night is that my own child went through this is reception and year one and it turned out to be not quite as it sounded. She said that no one would play with her, but on much further probing I found out that her idea of other children playing with her was if they all did exactly what she said and let her control the game. So when they didn't let her control the game she would wander off and sit by herself and then tell me no one would play with her. After a chat about the difference and explaining that she needed to let other take control sometimes too it sorted itself out.

My daughter is drawn to the slightly crazy kids with good imaginations. I don't agree with the previous poster who mentioned clothes and music etc. I find that the only ones of that age (mines the same age as yours) who are into those things are the ones whose parents encourage them to be into those things, which I don't. It's never been an issue for my daughter as she has no interest whatsoever and neither do any of the children she plays with. Personally I think all that stuff is a bit old for them, too teenagery, although my daughter is probably quite young for her age and still more playful. She also likes playing with boys quite a bit. I wouldn't limit it to just girls if there is a boy she gets on with.

I wouldn't give up on Brownies. If I were you I would go back and tell them exactly what the problem is with her finding it hard to make friends to the point where she is sad and losing confidence. Don't be passive. Tell them and ask them directly to help her. I can't see them not wanting to.

My children's school have a area where those who are quieter can go and read or play puzzles, there is also an area called the friendship zone or something where children who are lonely or want to make new friends can go and older children play with them all and get them playing together. I was going to ask if your school has similar but it sounds as though it does which is great.

Do you have friends who come round with their children or who you meet at the park? Are you sociable yourself?

Also, where do you live? I'd more than happily engineer a meeting between our children (at a park?) and then invite your daughter over (with you of course as I am a weirdo stranger off the interweb). She sounds lovely and my two love new children to play with!

OP Brownies can help massively....stick with it for a bit....also try role playing with DD to see how she's approaching games etc...some kids just have a way about them which turns others off...I don't mean to be cruel saying that....it's just the more grown up children may appear to be hoity toity or bossy to less mature ones....can DD do something like start a charity drive.

A friend of my DDs ran a little stall after school selling cakes and handmade things for charity...at lunchtimes she made the posters and other kids wanted to be involved too.

I should expand...the friend had the permission and support of the Head Teacher and her own...and she would set up as the school run Mums arrived and then sell the goods...plus she did a raffle for a hamper of treats and it was beautifully wrapped so all the DC wanted to buy a ticket...it sometimes can help to give confidence..things like this.

I'm on quite good terms with a lot of the mums. Not super friendly, but I'd stop and chat to them if I say them, or at least say hello. I have very very good social skills, but am not particularly sociable. (Myers brigs on INFJ), but am always interested in people and what makes them tick. We don't have lots of people round our house, because I prefer my own company.

When she has friends round, they always seem to play together well, and I always invite any she asks for. So I'm stumped. She had one boys last year who was her best friend whonsheplayed with all the time, but he seems to want to play more with boys this year. I've told her that that children go through a phase of wanting to play with their own ses, and this is probably what happens.

She says she just wanders round thenplaygroundon her own it's quite hard to get any information out of her. She tends to clam up

There is one class at my school where a lot of the mums are friends, but of course not every single one of them. They appear to hang out a lot and go to each others houses. I think they've all known each other since their children were babies. I would imagine that there are some children that are left out in that class (probably not intentionally) just because the children and parents have such a good bond. I wonder if there is something like that going on?

Actually I know there is one (I'd forgotten) as I talked to her mum about it. The mum was worried as her daughter gets left out of stuff although more recently has started being invited to more parties. Think she is 8/9.

Have you ever talked to any of the other parents about it? Not in a whingey way but just saying you are worried about her and her loneliness. If a parent said that to me I would encourage my children to include the child and invite them over as well.

Are there any children living near you? It doesn't matter if they are not at her school or if they are older etc.

Sorry, Myers Briggs INFj is a personality type who like their own space. Yes, she did have a friend who was a boy in another class, but she did admit that she only played with him,as no one else would play with her. However she was very very good friends with him, but I feel she needs female friends too.

I think there is something to be said about parents who are friends, there seem to be an awful lot who hang out together and have done for years, it is particularly noticeable and always has been. However there are 16 girls in her class and not all the parents know each other, although about 7 or 8 do

So sorry to hear about your daughter. Maybe it's just me but often it seems to me that young kids, girls especially, are just awful at playing with each other. I invite girls around a lot for my daughters sake, but I absolutely dread it. Almost without exception the guests are rude, won't play, tell tales, and generally leave my daughter bewildered. They seem really spoiled and badly brought up. My daughter persists and 'manages' them, but it isn't very rewarding. Boys on the other hand seem much better. They PLAY and don't have mind games. I find it very depressing! I also have the problem of lack of reciprocation - but I've come to the conclusion that it is the parents who have no manners and are happy to get the hours off with free childcare but unwilling to reciprocate. I am pissed off with the amount of effort it takes to make friends for my daughter, and how basically unrewarding it can be. Your daughter sounds very sweet and perfectly normal. Maybe you're just in with a boring bunch of kids and parents!

Agree with the poster who said girls can be nightmares at playing nicely. I also have the problem of dreadful playdates that end in tears. This is always always caused by telling tales, jealousy, siding with one and leaving the other out, one refusing to play the games the other wants....it's exhausting. What I can say though is that I've witnessed my own daughter participate in this nonsense- she is not immune from it nor is she an angel, despite my attempts to teach her otherwise.

I just think girls are incredibly complex in their friendships and it can make for a miserable time at school

My DD (9) is a bit like this. She is very sweet and no one dislikes her, but she has always been a bit on the edge of things. She joins in at lunch times (even if she is hanging around the edges a bit) so it is not too bad, but when they have to get partners for things or into small groups, no one seems to choose her. She has a twin sister who is very popular, and when I see them play together or play with non-school friends (eg children of my friends), I find it very hard to see what it is that makes one popular and one less so.

She has never appeared too bothered by it (although hard to say), but this year one of the girls who she has always really liked has become more friendly with her and even described her as her best friend the other day. I have never seen DD so happy as when she came home and told me that, so I suspect it bothered her more than she let on.

But the basic point is to give you hope that it might just fix itself (touch wood that DD maintains the friendship - her twin has been giving her tips!)

Will ask DD2 for her tips tomorrow. The one I heard is that she said that next time the class is told to get into pairs she should just go up to B (the new friend) and ask her rather than waiting to be asked ( I suspect DD1 normally hangs back waiting to be asked by someone out of fear of rejection)